Acquire Foundational Knowledge Of Marketing Information Management To Understand Its Nature & Scope

 Facts – something that actually exists; reality; truth  Estimates – an approximate judgment or calculation  Predictions – a forecast of something to happen  Relationships – a connection, association, or involvement.  Marketing Information – data collected from internal sources, external sources or marketing research

 Salespeople  A company’s sales team generates a great deal of useful data for marketers  Salespeople keep records from which marketers can learn things such as:  Who the company’s current and potential customers are  What current and potential customers want (products, customer service, etc.)  Data about completed sales – what products are selling, and in which geographic territories, target market segments, etc.  How actual sales stack up to the company’s goals and budgets  How sales compare to those of other companies in the same industry  What the sales staff is doing and how much it is spending to make sales calls (travel, food, lodging, etc.)

 Customers  Marketers can also learn a lot from the business’ customers  A single sales invoice (itemized statement of money owed for a good or service) can tell marketers:  Who a customer is  What industry the customer is in  How much the customer has spent with the business this year  What method of payment the customer prefers  Most businesses also keep careful customer records, tracking sales in unit and dollar amounts and noting how each customer uses the business’ products

 Competitors  Beating the competition is a task that is always in the forefront of a marketer’s mind  It’s important for companies to know what’s going on with competing businesses when it comes to making marketing decisions  Sometimes, it’s difficult to get data about competitors since they don’t readily share their information  However, for many companies, public financial data are available at the click of a button on the company web site  Marketers can also take note of easily observable data, such as a competitor’s current product offerings or promotional campaigns

 Suppliers and distributors  In addition to customers and competitors, marketers can gather quite a bit of data from their companies’ suppliers and distributors.  A supplier, also called a vendor, is someone from whom a business purchases goods or services.  Example:  An orange grower in Florida may serve as a supplier for many venues  If the orange crop isn’t going to be good this year, employees at the orange grove can notify venue marketers, and they can use the data to plan accordingly.  Most likely, the price of oranges will go up.  Distributors are channel members who help to sell a business’s products.  Example:  A wholesale club, such as Sam’s or Costco, then, is a distributor for the orange grower and can provide useful data to the orange grove as well.  The wholesaler can let the orange grove’s marketers know how well their product is selling, what feedback customers are giving, etc.

 News and trade journals  Marketers can learn a lot just by paying attention to current events.  For example, if the economy is struggling, marketers can keep track of news reports to see if it’s getting better or worse.  This can help them make decisions about what products to offer and at what prices.  Many industries also have industry-specific publications known as trade journals.  In the film and television industry, for instance, Variety is a popular trade publication.  Reading trade journals keeps marketers up to date on what’s happening in their industries and helps them to make better- informed decisions for their products and companies.

 Identify realistic goals  SMART – specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time- bound  Ex. Sales, market share, budgets  Develop product strategies  What to offer  What level of customer service to provide  When to offer new products  Developing pricing strategies  What to charge for a product is as important as the product  If priced too high, customers won’t buy  If priced too low, “cheap” image may discourage buying  Determine right price and when to change prices  Mark down  Sale – permanent or promotional discount

Developing promotional strategies Marketers must decide what to say to customers, in what way, and how often to repeat message Internet sales? In store sales? Television (expensive) vs. radio vs. print  Developing “place” strategies  Getting products into customers’ hands  How much of the product to buy or create and what channels of distribution to use  Sales reports can provide useful data based on past performance to gauge future need  Where do customers like to shop for certain products  Ex. A certain brand of sports shirts might sell better in Belk than it does at Wal-Mart

 Making budgeting decisions  Marketers must allocate funds wisely  Use data to estimate costs for each product  Use internal data about the company’s financials to help them make wise budgeting decisions  Ex. If there isn’t enough money available, the development of a new product may need to be delayed

Identifying problems or issues Developing, pricing, promotion and placing products take a lot of time and effort Know what adjustments must be made over time Problems or issues The product itself may have design flaws or other issues or need repackage or redesign to keep “fresh” Are customers receiving the level of after-sale service expected?  Vendors/suppliers – as prices and circumstances change over time, the business may need to switch suppliers or negotiate new contracts with existing ones  Salespeople – support and training, additional sales material, additional sample products to keep customers buying

 Evaluating results  Marketers must evaluate the outcomes of each decision they make  Evaluating negative outcomes can help them avoid making the same mistakes in the future  Evaluating positive outcomes can give insights into methods and strategies that work well for the product or company  Sales reports are key data sources  Where sales are good or poor, how they’re changing, how they relate to competitors’ sales

 Using data wisely helps marketers to create more competitive and successful products for their companies  Use data to meet customers needs and wants  Satisfied customers become repeat customers – repeat customers are less costly  Data saves companies money and helps them to run more efficiently; make more cost-effective decisions  Savings contribute to the company’s bottom line which means SUCCESS